Most people think the McLaren F1 was the company’s first road car. Technically, they are right because that was the first McLaren road car money could buy. But spiritually speaking, that’s not quite the case. This is where the McLaren M6GT enters the story. The actual first road-legal car bearing the McLaren name that was built and driven on public roads.
So what about it, you ask? Well, McLaren has brought back the M6GT as a tribute to Bruce McLaren’s original creation. The McLaren M6GT: Restored by MSO, as it is called, is a one-off recreation of Bruce McLaren’s original road-car vision from the late 1960s. Long before the F1 became every petrolhead’s poster car, Bruce had already imagined a lightweight, race-bred machine with butterfly doors that you could actually drive on public roads. Sadly, that dream never made it into production during his lifetime.
Now, more than half a century later, McLaren Special Operations has finally given it the ending it deserved.
This isn’t your typical restoration either. MSO dug through McLaren’s archives, tracked down the original body moulds, recreated long-forgotten parts, restored the original suspension, and even fitted a period-correct small-block V8 paired with the correct gearbox. The result is less a restored classic and more a time capsule on wheels.
Finished in bespoke Colnbrook White with a green interior inspired by Bruce McLaren’s 1966 Formula 1 car, the M6GT made its public debut at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The funny thing is that if Bruce McLaren were around today, he’d probably just use it to drive to work. After all, that’s exactly what he did with the original prototype. Anyhoo, never mind that it is not available to buy because it begs to be studied, which you can do at this link.
Images: McLaren.
